MC coach Craig defends Texas Tech mentor Gillispie

Published 7:45 am, Tuesday, September 11, 2012

(File Photo)Chris Craig will be replacing Ross Hodge as the new Men’s Basketball Coach at Midland College. Cindeka Nealy/Reporter-Telegram

(File Photo)Chris Craig will be replacing Ross Hodge as the new Men’s Basketball Coach at Midland College. Cindeka Nealy/Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Cindeka Nealy

MC coach Craig defends Texas Tech mentor Gillispie

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Midland College men's basketball coach Chris Craig came to Billy Gillispie's defense on Monday as rumors and allegations are surrounding Craig's former mentor.

Craig played for Gillispie, now the coach at Texas Tech, at the University of Texas at El Paso from 2002 to 2004 and said everything he's been hearing about Gillispie's alleged mistreatment of players and excessively long practices that are minor NCAA rules violations are hard to believe, even though he admitted that playing for Gillispie can be tough.

Gillispie has been on indefinite sick leave at Texas Tech after almost a week-long hospital stay for high blood pressure. There has also been no announcement made by the university or athletic director Kirby Hocutt regarding the coach's job status.

"I know coach genuinely cares about everybody that plays for him," Craig. "He is hard to play for. He is demanding. His brand of tough love makes a man out of you. A lot of the players who have played for him respect him and remain loyal to him to this day."

Craig was actually recruited to UTEP out of Arizona Western College by the previous coaching staff under Jason Rabedeaux.

In Craig's first year with Gillispie, he was forced to be the team's point guard and the Miners went 6-24.

But in Craig's second year, Gillispie brought in a true point guard in Filiberto Rivera from defending NJCAA champion Southeastern Iowa Community College, Craig moved to shooting guard and the Miners had a dramatic turnaround, going 24-8 and reaching the NCAA Tournament.

While Craig, who said he has not spoken to Gillispie since the allegations surfaced, admits he had no business playing point guard during his first year at UTEP, he credits Gillispie for helping him develop as a player.

"I was a 6-1 guard from Phoenix who wasn't really that good to play point guard at a program like UTEP," Craig said. "But because of him in getting the most out of me, I wouldn't have had the experiences to play on a professional level (overseas), and there are so many things from a coaching perspective that I learned from him.

"Not only did he make me a better player and made me tougher, but he instilled leadership abilities in me that I use as a coach today. He's tough but you know he cared and loved you. He may not show it every day and he doesn't care what you think of him. Sometimes it may take five years for you to turn around and understand what he was doing."

Craig added that Gillispie is not the kind of coach to curse or yell that much to a player.

"He's so smart that he knows what makes a person tick and he's going to use any card to get you to play your best," Craig said.

As for the excessive practice hours that have been alleged in recent reports, Craig said there was no way his team would have practiced eight hours, even when his team was struggling as a much as it was during the 2002-03 season.

"I think the longest we went was three and a half hours," Craig said. "We wouldn't have practiced for eight hours. That's silly."

Craig said he believes the criticism against Gillispie has been unfair and that the embattled Tech coach has been singled out.

"I think you could pick apart any high major coach just because he didn't treat you the right way," he said.

Gillispie has yet to make a public comment regarding the allegations made against him.

On Monday, Jordan Tolbert -- Tech's leading returning scorer -- told espn.com that he didn't want to play for Gillispie any more. Tolbert was also one of the returning players who met with Hocutt two weeks ago when the compliance office inquired about the excessive practice time.